STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- They huffed and they puffed, but Staten Island politicos didn't follow through on objections to petition signatures gathered for the district attorney's race.

And that means that GOP District Attorney Daniel Donovan and Democratic challenger Michael Ryan will retain coveted minor-party ballot lines for the fall race to go along with their major party nominations.

Republicans were looking to knock Ryan off the Conservative Party ballot, while Democrats wanted to deny Donovan the Independence line.

But neither side filed specific objections to the signatures, the next and more meaningful step in the process, acknowledging yesterday that Donovan and Ryan both had enough signatures to keep their respective third-party lines.

Former Borough President Guy Molinari, Donovan's campaign chairman, said he'd "studied Ryan's signatures carefully," and while some were no good, it wasn't enough to get Ryan tossed from the ballot.

"It would have been pointless of us to file specifics," he said.

Borough Democratic chairman John Gulino said it was "time to get on with the election."

"It's time for both sides to get out there and campaign," he said. "We're ready to go."

Carrying forward the challenge process would have likely resulted in battles before the city Board of Elections and in state Supreme Court that could have dragged on for weeks, a prospect that neither side relished with the fall campaign still to come.